This application claims benefit of priority to Japanese Patent Application No. JPAP10-259377 filed Aug. 28, 1998, the entire content of which is incorporated by reference herein.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printer control system provided with a server for monitoring the state of the printer and a method of controlling the printer and the printer system.
2. Description of the Background
Up through the present, there have been various protocols for determining the state of a printer from the printer side. As such, when multiple printers are monitored from a client personal computer, a corresponding number of monitoring tools are needed to effectively determine the state of the printers. This approach is problematic in terms of complexity of management as well as efficiency because as the number of printers on the network increase, so does the number of tools. In addition, if the printers are from different manufacturers, the problem is compounded. In particular, problems with the user interface and operation of the multiple tools arise.
Heretofore, the background art regarding a system for controlling the printer and a method of controlling the printer is described. However, according to such background art, there exists no advantageous functional effect for such printer control system and method.
The present invention was made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems. Therefore, some objects of the present invention are as follows:
It is an object of the present invention to solve the problems of the background art as mentioned heretofore.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a printer control system including a server for monitoring the state of the printer.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a printer control system including a server capable of acquiring the state information of the plural printers controlled by the various sorts of the protocols.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method of controlling the printer including a server for monitoring the state of the printer.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method of controlling the printer including a server capable of acquiring the state information of the plural printers controlled by the various sorts of the protocols.
Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.